Home staging is a specialised skill which involves creating the perfect atmosphere in your home using furniture and accessories, plants and lighting, to garner buyer interest for your property and sell it faster, for the best price.
Home staging is still a fairly new concept, but this doesn’t diminish the importance of it on today’s housing market, here’s why:
The evidence
As evidenced in the research by the Home Staging Association UK, staged properties sell on average, twice as fast and get increased sales price.*
At Greenstone we have both advised vendors to stage properties and also paid for staging as part of our Agency Terms to clients and seen the benefits directly.
Visual appeal matters
Most prospective buyers will not be able to imagine living in a home that’s empty or on the flip side, cluttered. If a property is vacant of furniture, or is not looking at its best, potential buyers will struggle to envision its full potential or imagine making the home their own. If buyers can’t picture themselves living in the property, they are unlikely to commit to buying it.
Selling more than just the property
When looking for their next potential home, prospective buyers will seek out a place that the reflects the lifestyle they aspire to, rather than the lifestyle they currently have. The type of property most people choose to buy and how much they are willing to pay is directly related to how good the property makes them feel when they browse through images and step inside. If the property represents a lifestyle that a buyer aspires for, then they’ll most likely be willing to pay more for it.
Playing to its strengths
Every property has its setbacks, which is why it’s important to highlight its key selling points until they overshadow any of the downsides. Staging focuses the eye and attention of the home’s strengths and detracts from anything that could be deemed unsightly. If a potential buyer falls in love with your home, they are likely to turn a blind eye to any minor repairs and improvements they’ll need to make once they move in. In an empty property, everything is on display and even minor defects can become a major sticking point.
Get ahead of competition
For every attractive home, there’s another one right around the corner, and staging could be the thing that sets yours apart from the rest. The first thing buyers do when looking for a home is browse properties online, and the listings with most attractive images will be the ones that garner the most clicks. If other properties in your area are on board with the concept of property staging and your listing photos haven’t been staged, your home could fall behind in the ranks as your property’s pictures may not match up to the same standard.
Hiring a property staging specialist will cost you short term but the profits will be abundant when your house is sold. Staging specialists can offer useful tips and advice on how best to prepare your home for sale, and can also help with other important details from clearing and decluttering, to moving furniture, and finishing with those all-important final touches for a viewing.
Looking for advice on selling your home? Get in touch today and let us help you.
